Ben “Kergillian” Kalman is a strong voice in the fledging Vs. community. His mailing list is one of the most trusted sources for breaking Vs, news, as well as serving as a forum for strategic discussions. This weekend, he’s stepping up to the plate and admits that he’s not used to competition this severe.

His opponent is jolly old Gabe Walls, who in his bright-orange fleece is impossible to miss in the sea of gamers in black. He’s fresh off a disappointing performance at the U.S. National Magic Championships where his 7-1 start was boondoggled by an 0-4 finish.

Kalman is running a homebrew X-Men/Brotherhood deck, chosen more for its fun value than its tournament readiness. Unfortunately for him, Walls is playing Sentinels, a deck Kalman knows will destroy him.

Things went as expected in the first game. Walls opened with Longshot and started building his hand thanks to the many Wild Sentinels and Sentinel Mark IV’s in his deck. Then came an avalanche of Wild Sentinels that ripped through Kalman’s Pyro and then Quicksilver. At the end of turn 3, Kalman had Pyro, and Walls had a six-by-two grid of pain.

“I’m in trouble.” – Ben Kalman

He flipped up Avalon Space Station from his resource row and used it to pick up Quicksilver and play him, unable to do anything else. Kalman positioned Quicksilver in front of Pyro. Walls slapped down his fourth resource and played Sentinel Mark IV, a powerhouse with so many Wild Sentinels in play.

Kalman swung in with Quicksilver on one of the Wild Sentinels, but Walls had many more in his hand to power it up to a 4/4. The Mark IV crushed Pyro, and the Wild Sentinels played cleanup. The life totals were 36 to 22 for Walls. Kalman held on to Pyro.

The next turn was even more deadly. Kalman drew more blanks and was forced to regrow Quicksilver and play him again. Walls looked for Underground Sentinel Bases with Longshot, and it didn’t matter that he missed. Another Mark IV was enough to seal the deal.

“Longshot may or may not be the best card. Ever.” – Gabe Walls


Walls 1 – Kalman 0


Kalman took the second initiative. Walls pulled up the first two cards of his opening hand and announced he would be keeping his hand. It was no surprise that he showed a Longshot on the first turn. Kalman played Surprise Attack in response to get in 5, then brought out Dazzler. They each took 1 and Walls augmented his hand with more Wild Sentinels and Sentinel Mark IV’s.

Kalman put Pyro in his front row. Walls protected his Longshot with a Wild Sentinel. Kalman hit with Pyro, but Walls pitched to save his Sentinel so it could send Dazzler to the bin. Meanwhile, Longshot served up three more cards, thanks to hitting two Wild Sentinels and a Mark IV. He did the same on the following turn. Walls spilled out three of the little guys onto the field. Avalon Space Station got back Kalman’s Dazzler, and she helped Wolverine get into play. The three fresh Sentinels teamed up to take down Wolverine, and a powered-up Wild Sentinel got rid of Pyro.

Again Kalman’s deck betrayed him, leaving him without a play better than bringing back Pyro and hiding him behind Wolverine. Walls naturally dropped a Mark IV. Kalman turned up a Mutant Nation to affiliate his two teams. Wolverine took a swing at one of the Wild Sentinels, but Cover Fire deflected the attack. The Mark IV powered up and squashed Wolverine, then two Wild Sentinels punched Pyro.

Walls used Longshot to look for Underground Sentinel Bases. He missed at end of turn, but found one on turn 5. That set up a particularly unfair sequence where Walls played a Mark IV from hand, flipped up an Underground Sentinel Base, activated it, then flipped up another and activated it as well. That sent two Mark IV’s from his resource row to the front lines. Kalman had no chance.


Gabe Walls defeats Ben Kalman 2-0